The Daily Dose/September 1, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.

Leading Off will return. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow is not happy with it, but he has to decline a late checkout request. Today’s Diary. 

Around 0600 or this kid fresh from the job site came in, said he had started work at 1700 yesterday, had to back at 0730 for three hours, and wondered if he could have a late checkout so he could get some sleep before heading home…Christ, where’s this job site, a gulag???…

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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.  

In 1449 – Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty is captured by Northern Yuan Mongol forces during a route in what western History refers to as the Tumu Crisis. The Mongols tried to extort a ransom for the emperor, an offer the Mings declined and Emperor Yingzong was released a year later. He was placed under house arrest by his brother, the new emperor, but would replace him in a coup seven years later and reigned until his death in 1464. The incident occurred about 60 miles northwest of Beijing. 

In 1967 – The San Francisco Giants and the Cincinnati Reds establish a new major league record for the longest 1-0 game in a 21-inning Giants victory. The only run of the game came in the top of the 21st when Bob Lee walked Dick Groat with the bases loaded. The game also tied the record for the longest shutout, a 1918, 2-0, 21-inning win by the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Boston Braves. Both records were broken in 1968 when the Houston Astros defeated the New York Mets 1-0 in 24 innings. 

In 1973 – Stories is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second and final consecutive week with Brother Louie. It was the second of four chart singles for the group and remains their only Top 40 hit. The song also went to #1 in Canada, peaked at #7 in Great Britain, at #22 on Billboard’s soul chart, and was their 13th-biggest song of the year. Earlier in the year, a version by Hot Chocolate peaked at #7 in Great Britain. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

Prose is the voice of knowledge freeing itself from imagination and faith…
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization, Vol II: The Life of Greece

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

England was ruled by a Regency Council while King Henry VI was a minor. It was made up of assorted dukes, earls and other nobles and Henry assumed power in 1837. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

What’s the major league record for most combined runs in a game of at least 20 innings? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/August 31, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.

Leading Off will return. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – A guest leaves some corn at the front desk. Today’s Diary. 

And we’re talking fresh from the field, still in the husk corn…I don’t understand this at all: what in theeeee hell compelled someone to think that a group of hotel front desk clerks would want their goddamned, unwanted, surplus corn. 

The Bottom Ten/NFL Week 1 – If the NFL can continue to trot out female-beating players every week, then your Bottom Ten pollsters will continue to trot out the funniest Bottom Ten on the planet. It’s free for the first couple of weeks, too. 

If anyone can rebound and go from eight (8) wins to a return to B-10 glory, it’s Cleveland a moribound franchise in prime position to reclaim pat B-10 glories after signing sexual predator to long-term, guaranteed contract…

Lions still solid pick to make it three (3) B-10 medal stand finishes in last four years…

Jets cannot be caught looking ahead to Week 2 showdown with Browns…

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Click here to get in on the laughs.
4Ever & Ever ($8.99) and monthly ($2.99) plans available.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.  

In 1422 – King Henry V of England, 35, dies in France, perhaps of dysentery, though another ailment is possible. Henry ascended the throne in 1413 following the death of his father Henry IV and was succeeded the following day by his nine-month-old son Henry VI. Henry VI had two reigns, the first ending in 1461 when he was deposed by Edward VI following the War of the Roses, with the other lasting from October 1470 until April 1471, when he was deposed again. 

In 1894 – Billy Hamilton of the Philadelphia Phillies tied the major league for most stolen bases in a game in an 11-5 victory over the Washington Nationals in the second game of a doubleheader. Hamilton stole seven bases to tie the mark established by Geroge Gore of the Chicago White Stockings in 1881 and the record still stands. The modern major league record is six, done five times, twice by Eddie Collins. 

In 1974 – Paul Anka and Odia Coats are at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first of three consecutive weeks with You’re Having My Baby. It was the first of four Top 40 hits for the duo and remains their only #1 song. Overall, it was the second and final #1 song for Anka and remains Coates’ only appearance at #1 on a Billboard chart. The song was written by Anka and also went to #1 in Canada and peaked at #6 in Great Britain. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

He who strideth across the highest mountains laugheth at all tragedies.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The last non-American to hold the world long jump record was Igor Ter-Ovanesyan of the Soviet Union, who held it from October 19, 1967 until it was broken by Bob Beamon on October 18, 1968. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

Who governed England while Henry VI was a child? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/August 30, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.

CAPSULE BOOK REVIEW: Gambit by Rex Stout: Mystery fans are familiar with Rex Stout, the creator of Nero Wolfe, the New York City private detective who never leaves his brownstone home, letting his confidential assistant Archie Goodwin do the legwork while Wolfe, a genius, actually solves the case. 

A Warm, Personal Remembrance: Our introduction to Wolfe was actually the old NBC series starring William Conrad and Lee Horsley…We asked dad who the fat guy was and he said Nero Wolfe and we were intrigued enough to find a Nero Wolfe mystery at the school library the following day and the affair continues to this day. 

Oh Yeah: Stout writes some of the best mysteries ever. We’re no dummies and we were never able to crack one on the first read and sometimes even on the second and third readings. 

Dry, Technical Matter: The book also provided what remains our working definition of a genius: someone who can play chess without a board. Early on Wolfe has a suspect in his office and chess is relevant because the victim was killed at a chess club where he was playing twelve matches simultaneously while blindfolded. Wolfe and the suspect start in playing without a board and while Wolfe plays adroitly for four moves, the suspect is too dimwitted to continue and retires. Seeing as Wolfe does not regularly play chess anymore and seeing as we can’t play chess even with a board this remains our standard for genius. 

Get Your Standard Daily Dose Rating System Right Here: 1 – The very best; 2 – Very good; 3 – Good; 4 – Average; 5 – A steaming pile. 

Final Rating: 3: This is a pretty standard Nero Wolfe mystery: the whodunnit is solid but you don’t read and reread Nero Wolfe stories – or anything else for that matter  – for the mystery, you do so because you’re visiting old friends. From Wolfe’s non-negotiable habits to Archie’s witticisms to Fritz, to Saul, Fred, and Orrie, it’s always a treat to revisit the brownstone on 35th Street. (The address has varied over the years, though as a practical matter it’s generally somewhere in the Hudson River.)

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow receives a call from a woman who wants him to neuter her rooster. Today’s Diary. 

Word has obviously reached the hinterlands that we’ve expanded our range of services at the VSO to not only include filing claims with the VA  but to also assist in the fixing of fowls…

The Bottom Ten is on the house for the first couple of weeks. 

The Bottom Ten/NCAA Week 1 – The race for the ESPN Cup – symbolic of collegiate Bottom Ten supremacy – begins with Nebraska already showing how tough it is going to be for Florida International to repeat. 

Two (2) double-digit leads blown???…Check…Inane onside kick no one will ever, ever, understand???…Check, as once-proud Huskers top B-10 survey for first time…

If Panthers are going to defend B-10 title, defense absolutely must improve over 2021 squad that only ranked 128th – out of 130 – in Total Defense and 126th in Scoring Defense.

Rainbow Warriors blow out circuit boards on patented B-10 TitleTrak Radar with stunning blowout home loss, snapping of Vanderbilt’s seven (7)-game losing streak.

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Click here to get in on the laughs.
4Ever & Ever ($8.99) and monthly ($2.99) plans available.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.  

In 70 AD – The Roman Army, led by future emperor Titus, ends the siege against the Jews in Jerusalem after destroying the Second Temple, also known as Herod’s Temple. The siege had begun in April, after unrest that followed the collapse of a provisional Roman government. According to the historian Josephus, the siege resulted in murder, famine, and cannibalism among the Jews with over one million Jews dying.

In 1991 – Mile Powell of the US establishes a new world long jump record at the World Track and Field Championships in Tokyo. Powell jumped 29 feet, 4.25 inches to beat the record of 29 feet, 2.25 inches established by Bob Beamon of the US at the 1968 Mexico Olympics and Powell’s mark still stands while Beamon’s mark is still the Olympic record.  Of the eleven men who have held the world long jump record since 1901, seven have been American.

In 1941 – Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra is at #1 on Billboard’s National Best Selling Retail Records chart – Billboard’s first national record chart – for the first of four consecutive weeks with Green Eyes (Aquellos Ojos Verde). It was the eleventh of 42 Top 10 hits for Dorsey and his fourth of five #1s. Vocals were sung by Bob Eberly and Helen O’Connell and earlier in the year the flip side of the record, Maria Elena, with Eberly singing, had spent two weeks at #1. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

What is modesty but hypocritical humility….No doubt when modesty was made a virtue it was a very advantageous thing for the fools; for everybody is expected to speak of himself as if he were one.
Arthur Schopenhauer

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Ritchie Valens’ biggest hit on the Hot 100 was Donna, written for his girlfriend Donna Ludwig, which spent two weeks at #2 in 1959. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

Who was the last non-American to hold the world long jump record? – Answer next time!

Share Gaylon! Go!

The Daily Dose/August 29, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.

Leading Off will return. Promise.

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow is accused of having a girlfriend. Today’s Diary. 

Regular readers of this crap know – know! – that ol’ Sparrow is no closer to a girlfriend than he is to being elected pope…

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Click here to get in on the laughs.
4Ever & Ever ($8.99) and monthly ($2.99) plans available.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.  

In 1958 – The US Air Force Academy campus opens in Colorado Springs. The first legislation for an Air Force Academy had first appeared in 1919 and before the campus opened cadets had been trained at an Air Force base in Denver. The first US Space Force officers graduated in 2020 and the Air Academy High School, a public school, is the only high school on the campus of a US military academy. A variety of cheating scandals have plagued the academy over the years, the most recent one this past April. 

In 1977 – Lou Brock of the St Louis Cardinals establishes a new modern major league record for career stolen bases in a 4-3 loss to the San Diego Padres. Brock stole two bases, giving him 893 for his career, breaking the mark of 892 established by Cobb, though Cobb would later be credited with four more stolen bases, and the all-time major league mark was then 914 by Billy Hamilton from 1888-1901. The current mark is now held by Rickey Henderson, with 1,406 from 1979-2003. 

In 1987 – Los Lobos is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first of three consecutive weeks with La Bamba. The song went to #1 in ten other countries, including Italy, Zimbabwe, and Great Britain, peaked at #57 on Billboard’s country chart, and was its 11th-biggest song of the year. It was the second of three chart singles for the group, their first of two Top 40 hits, and remains their only #1 song. In 1959 a version by Ritchie Valens peaked at #22 and in 1966 a version by Trini Lopez peaked at #86.

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

When a priest explained to Antisthenes how many good things the virtuous will enjoy after death, he asked, “Why, then, do you not die?
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization, Vol. II: The Life of Greece

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The westernmost point in the US by direction of travel (as opposed to longitude) is Point Udall, Guam. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

What was Ritchie Valens’ biggest hit on the Hot 100? – Answer next time!

Share Gaylon! Go!